Dear President Obama and the Contamination Caused by Fracking Screened at the Iván García Theater School in Puerto Plata

Puerto Plata – The 6th edition of the Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF) included the documentary Dear President Obama, which is more than just a petition to the US President and elected officials, it is a sad call to citizens to carefully consider the environmental damage being caused by hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas. One of the film screenings was held on September 14^th at a new DREFF venue: the Iván García Theater School in the beautiful city of Puerto Plata. Also present at the screening was the film’s director, Jon Bowermaster, a special guest of DREFF 2016, with whom the audience shared their questions and comments on the topic.

This documentary is a warning against the false promises of economic growth, where the painful history of victims demonstrates a cruel reality. Today, more than 17 million Americans live within 2 kilometers of an oil well and are witnessing the presence of methane gas, which is in large parts of US territory, such as South Dakota, California, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and many other states, according to the documentary.

Although it seems to be a cruel irony, it is the result of irrational human blindness to disturb the peaceful silence of these valleys with the infernal noise of a drilling machine. It is time to make a big decision: continue with the dirty extraction of fossil fuels that is contaminating our lives, our environment and our bodies or do we want to be able to open the windows of our homes and contemplate the magical green trees and hear the sublime singing of the birds in them.

About the DREFF
Since its creation in 2011, the Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF) – an initiative of the an Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (Funglode) has been providing Dominicans with a platform of knowledge and debate on the environment and sustainable development, as well as examples of best practices to achieve them, while celebrating the unique beauty and natural heritage of the Dominican Republic.